There have been reports earlier [1] that processing power of some GPUs is suppressed by software rather than the hardware capability itself. It is frequently easier to mass produce similar chips than to have different chips for different priced devices. I had come across comments in other online forums where the users alleged that some software flags restrict the capability. I hope someone else will link those webpages if they come across them
For instance, AMD is known to sell the same actually-8-core chip as a 6-core if the transistor yield was poorer.
I believe this is a standard in the industry, right? You can theoretically unlock these cores yourself, but there's a decent chance it will break or cause other significant problems.
They can move those restrictions into firmware otherwise someone is going to develop a tool that unlocks the driver like people did for the Intel compiler.
[1] https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-gpu-system-processo...